Dawson has never been the worlds greatest sleeper. It is so much better than it used to be. Especially considering what he was like during those oh so wonderful ACTH days. But still he has his good days and bad days with sleeping. At night he goes right to sleep without any problems ( this is about 8:00) and has a couple of good solid hours of sleep. But the rest of the night is spent tossing and turning, sleep then awake, more tossing, some flipping, Head of the bed laying cross ways, foot of the bed, more spinning and flipping ( you get the point.) He wakes up a lot, lets out a loud wail, rummages around to a new spot then goes back to sleep. All the while, Allison and I are being kicked, punched, smacked across the face with a flailing arm, and every now and then headbutted. And lets face it, Dawson is not a small baby anymore. When he lays cross ways he takes us A LOT of room. So here we are in this big ole king sized bed. Me on the very very end ( trying not to get kicked) and Allison on the very very other end ( trying not to get punched) and Dawson in the middle.
For those of you who want to say " that boy is too old to be sleeping in your bed. He should be in his own bed." let me first say yes, you are exactly right. I agree totally. So there, you don't have to say it because we already know. The fact is, Like all I.S. kids, they are more prone to having seizures upon waking and going to sleep. So of course we had him in the bed with us so we could closely monitor his seizure activity. Now its just a habit for him to be in there. It would probably take about 7 days to get him out of our bed, and at the end of the day, neither Allison or I are in any kind of mood, nor do we have the energy to attempt it.
All this to say, I think we are going to try Meletonin. We have been urged by some others to try it because it worked so well for their kids. Its a natural supplement that the body produces to help induce and maintain sleep. Its not a drug and can be purchased over the counter at most Herbal stores. We would love some feed back positive/negative from anybody who has tried it for their kids.
Other than that, Dawson is still doing great. Yesterday was an off day for him. He is cutting some molars and I think they were really bothering him yesterday. His mood seemed to improve with some numbing gel and Tylenol.
Also we were told today by Early Intervention that he did not qualify for speech therapy since he is showing no developmental delays. His Neuro said this was not optional and she also said in the very beginning that he qualified for services just because of the diagnosis and its catastrophic tendencies.... We'll have to call her and tell her what they said and maybe she can work something out for us.
Until then, heres to Melatonin and we hope its helps him sleep better.
We love you guys
Jeff and Allison
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4 comments:
Austin is 6 and is FINALLY sleeping well. So I completely understand where you are coming from. He was close to 5 before he was sleeping in his own bed.
We used Melatonin with Austin. I am not sure it will work for Dawson though based on your description. Not only was Austin restless during the night, but he couldn't calm himself to fall asleep. The Melatonin helped get him to sleep but didn't change the middle of the night restlessness. Since Dawson goes to bed so well, it may not help. The only thing that may work is to get the quick melt Melatonin (I know GNC carries it) and dose him DURING the night, when he is his most restless. Does this make sense?
The only thing that truly helped Austin was taking him off the Vigabatrin.
Good luck!
Jen
AustinBenConnor blog
Melatonin is certainly worth a try and you will know right away if it helps.It puts Joe out like a dream but does nothing for the nighttime restlessness ... sorry.In fact we still have a very active,squirmy five year old that inhabits our bed for the majority of the night.A redose works if he really isn't settling down.Good luck ....I really can relate.
I think we've given up on the sleep battle with Trevy for now. Altho...J does the getting up so I'm spoiled! We used Melatonin for awhile...and still do on occasion when Trevy has a hard time falling asleep. It definately helps the going to sleep...not so much with the night waking? But maybe it'll be your lucky charm! *smile!
ps. Works great with my big kids too...on those nights I need em' to fall asleep early! *grin*
...danielle
have you been watching Connor sleep since February? Because your description of Dawson's sleep sounds exactly like Connor!! As far as him sleeping in your bed..I'm all for whatever helps everybody get some rest! Connor slept with us for a while too b/c he had learned how to climb out of his crib. We finally got tired of being punched in the face in the middle of the night so we promptly got him a big boy bed. The Melatonin has been helpful for us, it is just something you have to try yourself and see how Dawson does on it..it definitely can't hurt. Before the Melatonin, Connor would go to bed 8:30-9, sleep for maybe an hour ( a very restless hour when he is in the light stage of sleep),and then get up ready to play. He would then go back down around 11, wake up between 2-3, and really struggle to go back to sleep..flipping all over the place. Now we give it to him with dinner, he is asleep usually by 8:30 and sleep until 3. He is much easier to get back to sleep though. He then has to be woken up at 6:15. I wish you luck! The lack of sleep just makes me loopy and cranky.
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